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Koripon Entertainment
NOTE: This article is incomplete. 'Koripon Entertainment '(Japanese: コリポン娯楽) is a Japanese-Korean entertainment company, which specializes in theatre, filmography, television, and distribution. It is well-known for its films and television programming, and its two flagship TV channels, Koripon General Televsion, and Koripon Educational Television. The company was founded in 1927, specializing in just theatre (plays/musicals) in Japan and Korea, but soon expanded in the mid-40s, also becoming a distribution company, and entered the filmography/television industry in the late 60s. The company’s name is a portmanteau of the words Korea and Nippon. History Theatre industry (1927) Koripon was founded in 1927 by Kenny Okahashi as an agreement between Korea and Japan, letting the two countries work together to create Japanese and Korean plays by the same company. This was a big deal at the time, since Japanese and Korean plays couldn’t be created by the same company, due to financial issues and cultural differences which could tear the company apart. Many were against this idea, but Okahashi refused to let it go, seeing it as an opportunity to unite the two, resulting in the founding of Koripon in 1927. Their first play was not created until 1931, titled Souls (魂), having no words or sounds, and accompanied by music composed by Kenny Okahashi himself. The play, 52 minutes long, received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, receiving a 1977 remake to mark the 50th anniversary of Koripon. The play had a cast of 150 people, each person having screentime of about 3 minutes. As said before, the show was immensely popular, and Koripon made more plays as time went on. Koripon’s first musical and children’s play was titled Paper Crane (折り鶴), performed only three times since its release in 1941; the second and third performances being at the 1961 Koripon Grand Event in South Korea and in 1990 at Tokyo Disneyland. The play has been the most critically acclaimed children’s musical in Japan, spawning a Studio Ghibli anime film in 2000, and a Koripon Educational Televisoon series in 2002, in partnership with NHK and Studio Ghibli. The show is distributed by Animax. Introduction to distribution (mid-40s) In the mid-40s, Koripon soon expanded, also becoming a distribution company, as well as still writing plays. The first use of distribution was creating poster art for the 1946 film Enemy of the People (民衆の敵). As well as creating poster art, Koripon also produced movie trailers for films and TV shows, and even created entire websites dedicated to them sometimes, the first use of this being the web address www.wattersons.koripon.com, which took you to a website called ザー・ワータソンズ・インタネット・ウェブサイト！！ (The Wattersons Internet Website!!), used to promote the Japanese dub of satrical comedy The Wattersons, airing on Koripon General Television at the time. Filmography industry (late 60s-present day) In 1968, Kenny Okahashi planned to produce a feature film made entirely by Koripon, which would be the company’s first step outside of theatre. He wanted Koripon’s first feature film to be memorable, as it would be first big step for the company. On October 19, 1973, Koripon’s first motion picture was released, titled The Man on the Other Side of the Street (通りの向こう側の男). The movie had a cast of 94 people (including minor characters) and had a complete runtime of 141 minutes (2 hours 21 minutes). The film gained excellent reviews from critics, with the film being re-released in cinemas nearly 50 years after, with higher picture quality and additional scenes removed from the original production. The remastered version of the film has a runtime of 200 minutes (3 hours 20 minutes). Koripon continued to create more movies over the years, the most well known being the 2012 anime remake film of American comedy The Wattersons, receiving mixed reviews due to its ‘Weird and wacky nature’. Koripon’s financial issues/Paper Crane TV series (early 90s-early 2000s) In the 1994, the Koripon fell into some financial issues. Production had become slower in recent years and the company was in danger of going out of business. With the success of filmmaking and theatre, Kenny Okahashi decided to make a move “Which would either save the company or destroy the company.” He wanted to enter the television business and create television programs. People were very surprised at the idea, and even Okahashi himself admitted he did something extreme. “I took a bold step in the hope that it would save my career. I didn’t want to go down as one of the biggest company failures of all time.” In 1995, he pitched his idea to TBS, in which they would work together to produce a TV continuation of the children’s musical Paper Crane. Sony turned down the idea, saying it would cost too much and production value had to be low. Koripon then turned to Nippon TV, who also rejected the idea. After 9 failed attempts, Okahashi pitched the idea to NHK, who kindly accepted. Studio Ghibli also wanted to help produce the series and Animax offered to distribute it. Production started in 1997, but wouldn’t finish until 2001. On September 2, 2002, the TV adaptation of Paper Crane premiered at 7:15am on NHK General Television, and at 9:15am on NHK Educational Television. In South Korea, it premiered the following ay at 9am. The show was, once again, a massive hit, and gained more than ¥14,000,000 in it’s first six months on air. Kenny Okahashi’s death (2003) By then, Okahashi had turned over 102 years old, and had been diagnosed with minor brain cancer. He died at the age of 103 on October 4, 2003, during production of Season 2 of Paper Crane. His funeral, held on February 17, 2004, was televised on NHK General Television in Japan and on KBS in South Korea. The service, held at National Bunraku Theatre (国立文楽劇場), lasted over 3 hours long, starting at 2:15pm and ending at 5:20pm. In his honor, Koripon decided to carve his gravestone into the shape of a paper crane. It read simply, “岡橋氏の魂はここにあります,” and “오카하시 씨의 영혼은 여기에 있습니다,” which is Japanese and Korean for “Mr Okahashi’s soul lies here.” A large plaque also stands at the top of Tokyo Tower in Japan and at the front of KBS Hall, both reading “This plaque resides in honor of Mr Okahashi.” A memorial website was also created with the web address okahashi.koripon.com, which contained a biography of Kenny Okahashi, a list of plays, and films he directed (including video clips), a Paper Crane online game and an image/video gallery. Although the web address now takes you to a 404 error page, it can still be viewed using the Wayback Machine.